The DJ/Niobrara Basin | May 2022
Field Overview
Located mainly in the Northeast of Colorado, the Denver-Julesburg Basin consists of five main oil-producing formations: Niobrara sections A-C, Codell, and Greenhorn. These five plays produce over 90% of Colorado’s oil/gas.
State Drilling Statistics
Active Drilling Rigs in Basin- 15 (No change)
Total Rigs in Colorado- 16 (
+1)
Total Rigs in United States- 753 (+25)
Total U.S. Rigs 60% YTD
State Permitting Data
Permits Approved – 57
State Top Producers
Top Producer By BOE – Kinder Morgan
Basin Highlights
Granholm Visits Colorado, Commits Millions
US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm made a quick trip to Colorado at the end of May where she announced the $38 million in investments that would be distributed to 4 US national laboratories including Golden’s very own National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The investments are being used to incorporate net-zero technologies into the laboratories as they emitted the equivalent of 2,300 homes worth of carbon dioxide in 2020. The director of NREL believes both NREL campuses can become net-zero by 2026.
Colorado Says “No” to PFAS
Colorado’s state legislature enacted one of the most comprehensive bills limiting the sale of PFAS-containing consumer products. The measure also attempts to limit the use of PFAS chemicals in oil and gas extraction fluids, specifically in the context of fracking. Many of the bill’s prohibitions would take effect as early as 2024. PFAS are a group of chemicals associated to major health problems such as cancer, organ damage, and immune system suppression. Colorado will join a growing number of states taking steps to reduce PFAS use and exposure if the bill is passed into law.
Environmentalists Call for a Wider Scope
Last week, a coalition of 33 Colorado environmental groups sent the state a letter requesting that the state include existing ozone, air pollution, and climate change impacts when assessing the effects of pollution from oil and gas operations. The letter is addressed to the COGCC and includes a series of recommendations for how the commission can broaden the scope of its report by including a comprehensive view of pollution in a given area, as well as how different sources of pollution, such as pollution from oil and gas activities and pollution from automobiles, compound their respective harmful environmental impacts.
Top CO Permitting By Operator
| Rank | Company | Permits Approved |
| 1 | Red Willow Production | 15 |
| 2 | Kerr McGee (Occidental) | 12 |
| 3 | Verdad Resources | 8 |
Top Producers by BOE
| Change | Rank | Company | MBOE Production (Jan-Mar/22) |
| +1 | 1 | Kinder Morgan | 13.5 |
 -1 | 2 | Kerr McGee (Occidental) | 12.3 |
| – | 3 | PDC Energy | 10.3 |
| – | 4 | Noble Energy (Chevron) | 8.7 |
| – | 5 | TEP Rocky Mountain | 7.1 |
Rig Count
Colorado Production
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